Football: Dale In The Community Sports Trust celebrating 30th anniversary this year

Dale In The Community Sports Trust first ever session at High Birch School with a young Keith Hicks

The Dale In The Community Sports Trust, which helps to forge strong links between the Rochdale Football Club and the local community, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

The scheme was originally set up in September 1987, under the guise of Football In The Community (FITC), by Mickey Burns of the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Keith Hicks was appointed Head of Community three weeks later, a position he still holds to this day.

Hicks, a former Dale player, has overseen a huge transformation of the Trust in the last 30 years.

He said: “It is an honour to have been leading the Community Trust for almost 30 years now. From where it was back then, to where it is today, is a huge difference.

"It is vitally important for the Club to be a strong part of the community, and I am proud to have been a part of it."

At its inception, the Trust was wholly holding sessions in local schools. Still a big part of what the Trust does, there are more school visits than ever before. However, that is now just one of a whole host of activities the Trust carry out.

Hicks said: “We were just visiting local schools for a few months at the beginning, but we followed the lead of other clubs such as Manchester City and Manchester United in branching out to other events. Anything that comes along, we like to have a go at it.”

The aims and objectives of the Trust are to encourage more people (especially children) to play football, to encourage more people to support Rochdale AFC by forging closer links between the club and the local community, and to promote the issue of social inclusion by offering opportunities to young people who may be prevented from fully participating in mainstream activities.

For Hicks, personal accounts of what the Trust has done for those participating make all the hard work worthwhile.

He added: “At times in life, we can take things for granted. When people come to me and say our sessions mean the world to them, it does strike a chord with me and make everything worthwhile. That is why we try to get to as many different groups in the community.”